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These sent in by someone else:
Personal Pronoun Pronouncement
Which the Reader Skips At His or Her PerilSince TeX is a rather revolutionary approach to typesetting, I decided that a rather revolutionary approach to non-SeXist terminology would be appropriate in this manual. I myself am completely unprejudiced, of course. As Mark Twain said, or should have said: All I care to know is that a man or woman is a human being—that is enough for me; he or she can't be any worse. But I hate having to say "he or she" or "his or her" or using awkward circumlocutions. Numerous approaches to this problem have been suggested, but one strikes me as particularly simple and sensible. Just as 'I' is the first person singular pronoun, regardless of gender, so 'E' will be used in this book as the third person singular pronoun for both genders. Thus, 'E' is the singular of 'they'. Accordingly, 'Eir' (pronounced to rhyme with 'their') will be the possessive, and 'Em' (rhyming with 'them') will stand for either 'him' or 'her'. Here is an example that illustrates all three forms:
E loves Em only for Eir body.
So priketh hem Nature in hir corages-
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages
And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes
To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;
And specially, from every shires ende
To make it clear that we are granting justice to all persons who love liberty, regardless of sex, race, or beliefs, the pronouns in this document are gender-neutral ones formed by removing the initial th from the plural pronouns. That is, ey means he/she, eir means his/her, em means him/her, and similarly for eirs and emself. It is recommended that ey be pronounced to rhyme with he/she.I would recommend that "ey" be rhymed with "they", of course.
BTW, the story also features as minor characters a "polymarriage" of six, including one hermaphrodite — hence the need for a non-gender-specific pronoun! ...
["Since the differences between men and women are so obvious to all, so impossible to confuse whether we are speaking of learned behavior or inherent characteristics, ordinary conversation or furious passion, work or intimate relationships, the author understands that it is no longer necessary to distinguish between men and women in this novel. I have therefore used one pronoun for both, trusting the reader to know which is which."]
"I believed na, that's all," the cook said, and then added, generously or sarcastically, the carpenter could not tell, "You would have too if you'd been there."
The carpenter stopped the sander to change its disk and relieve nan ears from the screaming assault of its ancient motor. Nan habit of mind during almost all of nan forty-three years was a balanced position between belief and disbelief, a harmonious central stand from which na could clearly see both the yes and the no, the + and the -, the danger and the danger. The carpenter did not like this quality in naself and sometimes rationally chose to throw naself over to one or the other side—not from belief or disbelief but from the need to belong or be other.
Connie could hardly hear the ending because the girl was crying by the time she finished. "Jackrabbit was my teacher. I felt so close to per! I was angry person chose to defend while I was learning in torrents."
It has been axiomatic since Haeckel that ontology recapitulates phylogeny —that the individual in Hir development repeats, step-by-step, the evolution of the species. ...
Consider Lao-tse. In the 6th Century B.C., SHe realizes Einsteinian relativity, senses that all is flow and evolutionary change; ....
Below are all groups that i have verified to contain GNPs. (There were others that discussed the gendered pronoun problem, but i generally haven't included them unless they mentioned or used GNPs.) Only a few of these groups commonly contain GNPs by more than one member. A few from the comp.* were due to certain people having the GNPs in their sigs or from automatically including them in some other way. After a few of these, i stopped counting those types of GNP usage and stuck to actual usage. Many groups (especially alt.*) may not have been available from the search site, and some pronouns (em, sie, etc.) are difficult to search for because they are commonly used, or are words in another language.
A program named arbitron collects statistics (see http://www.tlsoft.com/arbitron/ ) on usage of the newsgroups. The following lists those relevant to this FAQ. I estimate from it that from one-hundred thousand to one million people are regularly exposed to these new pronouns. And like net usage as a whole, this number is growing exponentially. (To compare these numbers, note that, of the 4500 languages in the world, only about 400 have more than 100,000 speakers, and only 138 have more than a million speakers.)
(The first number is the ranking of the group, according to estimated total number of readers. The most-read group is ranked as 1. Regional groups like seattle.* are on a different ranking system, however.)
+-- Estimated total number of people who read the group, worldwide.
| +-- Actual number of readers in sampled population
| | +-- Propagation: how many sites receive this group at all
| | | +-- Recent traffic (messages per month)
| | | | +-- Recent traffic (megabytes per month)
| | | | | +-- Crossposting percentage
| | | | | | +-- Cost ratio: $US/month/rdr
| | | | | | | +-- Share: % of newsrders
| | | | | | | | who read this group.
V V V V V V V V
? uk.singles
414 51206 277 68% 4580 9.0 51% 0.47 0.5% talk.religion.misc
2632 12940 70 45% 998 2.6 8% 0.09 0.1% soc.support.fat-acceptance
76 108697 588 71% 7328 10.4 22% 0.57 1.0% soc.singles
150 81523 441 68% 9165 12.5 28% 0.65 0.7% soc.motss
12 66179 358 18% 1905 2.2 27% 0.03 0.6% seattle.general
? sci.psychology
140 83741 453 76% 5005 8.4 31% 0.49 0.8% sci.physics
2485 14049 76 50% 251 0.4 1% 0.02 0.1% sci.bio.paleontology
821 35862 194 69% 2191 6.1 5% 0.32 0.3% sci.archaeology
187 73574 398 68% 2933 5.1 13% 0.27 0.7% rec.travel.air
1803 19964 108 59% 2424 4.3 1% 0.19 0.2% rec.sport.football.canadian
997 31795 172 66% 2726 4.8 2% 0.24 0.3% rec.pets.herp
1677 21258 115 52% 2663 4.0 8% 0.16 0.2% rec.pets.dogs.misc
210 69692 377 70% 6271 9.3 4% 0.50 0.6% rec.pets.cats
741 37896 205 71% 3718 6.9 2% 0.38 0.3% rec.org.sca
733 38081 206 66% 4061 7.0 4% 0.35 0.3% rec.org.mensa
53 130326 705 71% 4582 7.3 3% 0.40 1.2% rec.nude
1931 18855 102 54% 1390 2.2 1% 0.09 0.2% rec.music.tori-amos
2218 16082 87 41% 1306 1.7 7% 0.05 0.1% rec.music.opera
531 46030 249 69% 5124 12.6 3% 0.67 0.4% rec.music.christian
416 51021 276 70% 6236 11.3 1% 0.61 0.5% rec.martial-arts
1517 23107 125 66% 792 1.4 0% 0.07 0.2% rec.juggling
962 32535 176 71% 161 0.2 2% 0.01 0.3% rec.humor.oracle.d
334 56936 308 71% 5941 8.4 0% 0.46 0.5% rec.guns
1370 25325 137 49% 5343 9.3 4% 0.35 0.2% rec.games.trading-cards.magic.rules
2537 13679 74 41% 171 0.3 1% 0.01 0.1% rec.games.playing-cards
? rec.games.miniatures.warhammer
941 32905 178 66% 5419 7.4 33% 0.37 0.3% rec.games.frp.misc
1205 28098 152 65% 1007 2.6 8% 0.13 0.3% rec.games.frp.advocacy
902 33829 183 71% 1923 4.1 0% 0.22 0.3% rec.games.bridge
61 120159 650 75% 9137 13.7 5% 0.79 1.1% rec.food.cooking
678 39929 216 71% 4924 7.7 1% 0.42 0.4% rec.equestrian
1690 21074 114 54% 4167 6.1 3% 0.25 0.2% rec.crafts.textiles.needlework
639 41778 226 68% 2763 3.7 6% 0.19 0.4% rec.climbing
1190 28468 154 53% 3317 4.0 11% 0.16 0.3% rec.bicycles.off-road
1549 22737 123 58% 2426 2.9 17% 0.13 0.2% rec.audio.opinion
59 121083 655 71% 2499 5.2 45% 0.28 1.1% rec.arts.startrek.misc
87 102412 554 69% 1085 0.8 50% 0.04 0.9% rec.arts.startrek.fandom
38 143451 776 71% 5738 7.4 26% 0.40 1.3% rec.arts.startrek.current
377 54163 293 71% 4997 8.3 15% 0.45 0.5% rec.arts.sf.written
369 54903 297 60% 9943 15.7 10% 0.72 0.5% rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5
504 47139 255 69% 2612 4.1 37% 0.22 0.4% rec.arts.sf.tv
1012 31426 170 71% 616 0.4 68% 0.02 0.3% rec.arts.sf.misc
1056 30501 165 68% 2521 4.2 20% 0.22 0.3% rec.arts.sf.fandom
1716 20889 113 41% 4395 7.8 12% 0.24 0.2% rec.arts.comics.dc.universe
2390 14788 80 43% 328 0.5 17% 0.02 0.1% rec.arts.books.hist-fiction
2017 17931 97 54% 1002 1.7 2% 0.07 0.2% rec.arts.books.childrens
116 89657 485 75% 3098 5.1 12% 0.29 0.8% rec.arts.books
457 49172 266 67% 1752 3.3 2% 0.17 0.4% rec.arts.bodyart
34 147518 798 87% 5998 10.6 21% 0.71 1.3% news.groups
1409 24771 134 56% 3251 4.7 42% 0.20 0.2% news.admin.net-abuse.misc
? ne.motss
1536 22922 124 57% 4440 7.4 2% 0.32 0.2% misc.kids.pregnancy
1758 20334 110 55% 593 1.1 12% 0.05 0.2% misc.kids.health
182 74498 403 76% 7295 13.3 5% 0.77 0.7% misc.kids
625 42332 229 63% 3260 5.4 13% 0.26 0.4% misc.health.alternative
206 70246 380 72% 2920 4.7 11% 0.26 0.6% misc.fitness
? manawatu.chat
1143 29392 159 26% 2936 4.3 7% 0.09 0.3% k12.chat.senior
2448 14419 78 28% 921 1.3 13% 0.03 0.1% k12.chat.teacher
389 53609 290 77% 2275 3.4 4% 0.20 0.5% comp.text.tex
833 35493 192 70% 624 0.8 8% 0.04 0.3% comp.sys.hp.hardware
1623 21813 118 60% 992 1.8 5% 0.08 0.2% comp.lang.asm.x86
463 48803 264 77% 1522 2.5 33% 0.15 0.4% comp.lang.ada
1764 20334 110 51% 226 0.7 13% 0.03 0.2% comp.ai.games
? cmh.opinion
? bit.listserv.words-l
2351 15158 82 36% 1390 3.2 0% 0.09 0.1% bit.listserv.techwr-l
2612 13125 71 38% 2454 7.2 0% 0.21 0.1% bit.listserv.catholic
? ba.singles
? ba.news.group
? ba.food
? alt.usage.english.neologism
619 42517 230 56% 3585 5.2 10% 0.22 0.4% alt.usage.english
510 46954 254 53% 1876 5.1 9% 0.21 0.4% alt.sexual.abuse.recovery
55 129586 701 37% 3679 10.5 13% 0.30 1.2% alt.sex.spanking
? alt.sex.fetish.tickling
154 80598 436 32% 1852 4.1 19% 0.10 0.7% alt.sex.femdom
17 204085 1104 54% 6499 13.6 22% 0.56 1.8% alt.sex.bondage
621 42517 230 50% 1840 3.3 29% 0.13 0.4% alt.polyamory
592 43626 236 52% 6560 5.1 70% 0.20 0.4% alt.feminism
MUDs are real-time (unless the lag monster gets you) virtual worlds where you interact with other people, usually under some assumed persona. Typically you do something amusing to pass the time with these other people, like hack up vile monsters with your +3 Sword of Cats, go quaff some beer, BS in the town square, go back and hack up the same vile monster (which magically regenerated itself), engage in a bit of cybersex, watch as (presumed) female players are annoyed or pleased with too much attention from the vast male hordes, etc. Eventually you return to non-virtual reality and realize that you haven't eaten in a week, your family has left you, your dog has left you, and you've been fired from your job. You respond by thinking "man, this real-reality stuff sucks" and then you go find another mud to explore, maybe one involving science fiction themes. It's great fun, and you should at least try it once in your life. (You can always quaff my patented "MUD-begone" oil if you get addicted.)
The following bit of (mildly edited) info is from Steve Shaviro, keeper of the Dhalgren MOO, and author of the online book Doom Patrol, which uses Spivak pronouns:
I came across the Spivak pronouns on LambdaMOO and other MOOs (MOO = object oriented MUD). Whereas most MUDs just use conventional gender pronouns, or at most allow one to be neuter/undeclared, MOO-code allows for a wide range of gender-neutral pronouns: you can set your gender to be neuter (it), either (he/she), Spivak (e), splat (*e), plural (they), plus use 1st or 2nd person in place of the 3rd person (though this aspect seems problematic to me), in addition to being male or female.A...source of general information about MOOs is http://www.cms.dmu.ac.uk/%7Ecph/moos.html.
John Costello wrote:
...here are some statistics about the pronoun distribution on LambdaMOO, probably the largest MOO out there; this is real-time data, calculated just minutes before I wrote the letter:Unique personal pronouns:
*'s, he sexily, hee, His Eminence, She of the throbbing butt, she or he, the demented burger flipper wannabe, the dude, the housekeeper, the meaty one, and treeNon-unique personal pronouns (updated January 2002):
you: 5 I: 7 *e: 10 s/he: 14 they: 18 we: 24 e: 108 it: 386 she: 1415 he: 2065 Total: 4061 ... Probably because they're not a built-in option, 'zie' and 'sie' are have no representation at all.
I know the wizard who originally included the spivak pronouns on the MOO. He says he did it just on a whim after having read the Joy of TeX — he never thought they'd acquire the sexual and political nimbus they have over the years.
Neat "inclusive gender" sentence: "Man is a mammal: he bears his young live and suckles them at his breasts."
"Ms." is a neologism that allows women to have a title without having to divulge their marital status, but it doesn't allow them to have a title without having to divulge their gender. Transgendered people often have trouble with titles, particularly on forms that demand a title. What can be used as a gender-neutral replacement for Mr., Mrs., Ms., Miss? Some suggestions that have been put forth:
A reader writes:
Hello, I could discuss many points in your paper; however, I'd like to limit them to the refernces, espeically under those you mention that you "know nothing about." I'm familar with all of these and they're good. The Bodien and Martyna articles are especially good. Martyna's work is a study of how people interpret the "generic maculine language." However, you'll want to look at Dale Spender's book, Man Made Language. She covers the history of its usage. For example, in the late 19th century, the English Parliment passed a law mandating that he stands for she. She brillantly documents the sexual politics behind so called generic masculine language.
Other radical feminists such as Catherine MacKinnon have documented that the sex of a person is central to understanding the law and interpretating it. Another good writer on this topic is Marilyn Frye, a professor at Michigan State Unviversity (philisophy).
...the gendering of third-person pronouns in English is incredibly crippling. My native language, Finnish, only has gender-neutral pronouns. Most Finns have a hard time learning to differentiate between he and she when learning English. I mean, we know perfectly well how they're supposed to be used, but whether somebody else has a male or a female physique just doesn't feel too relevant a distinction to make when wondering if they've (see? That's a translation :-) got that CD you were looking for.
and
...did you know that there are languages with _only_ gnp pronouns?
One such language my mother tongue is Finnish, where distinction between men and women cannot be made with third person pronouns. It maybe only a coincidence, but Finland was the first country in the world where women could stand for the parliament and the second where women were allowed to vote.
and
A point of trivia: Hungarian only has one pronoun for third person singular: ö. Hungarians when learning Indo-European languages (all of which, I think, make gender distinctions), they oftentimes confuse "he" and "she," "il" and "elle," "er" and "sie."
Of course, and unfortunately, this is not to say Hungarian is a gender-neutral language. Waiter, "pincer," becomes waitress, "pincernö" (literally, waiter-woman).
It would be fun to develop a gender-neutral system for those languages which use gender much more than English does.
Spanish might be fairly easy — "La casa. El sombrero. El bigote." changed to something like "Le case. Le sombrere. Le bigote."
French might be harder, since the written and spoken language is so different, but it would be fun to give the Academy a fit.
German might be most in need of it — see the amusing The Awful German Language by Mark Twain.
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